Fun-loving Art on the Corner sculptor Gene Adcock, 77, of Carbondale died Nov. 21, in Grand Junction after heart surgery.

An assortment of sculptures by Adcock has been featured in the downtown outdoor exhibit — most with the recurring theme of enjoying life.

“Gene Adcock has been a popular and prolific contributor to the Art on the Corner,” said
Allison Sarmo of the Art on the Corner committee. “He has had pieces in the exhibit since at least the late 1980s. That’s amazing. And his work has been so well-received,” Sarmo said.

“He did such interesting and eclectic work, being both stone carver and bronze artist, and brought such a quirky sense of humor,” she said.

One of Adcock’s submissions to the exhibit was a bronze sculpture of a wavy-haired woman posed in a stretching exercise — a sculpture whose true meaning was often misunderstood and that garnered a variety of “You Said It” comments.

“It’s a Stretch” was displayed against the wall outside of the Blue Moon Bar and Grille at Seventh and Main streets.

“My wife used to do stretches of all kinds and that reminded me of her, because she’d do them on the floor and up against the wall,” Adcock told the Daily Sentinel in 2005.

Permanent Art on the Corner exhibit sculptures by Adcock include “Slow Dance,” in the 200 block of Main Street, and “It’s a Stretch,” now in storage.

The bronze piece “I’m Glad We’re Still Together” is displayed in the temporary exhibit on the southwest corner of Fifth and Main streets, as is “Social Climber,” displayed in the breezeway in the 500 block of Main Street.

“I am in the midst of an important lifelong research project that involves surrounding myself with friends and heavy doses of laughter, international travel, preparing Italian cuisine for small garden parties of 60 or more at my ‘Rancho Paradiso’ in Carbondale, and thoroughly enjoying life to its fullest,” he told the Daily Sentinel in a column that highlighted his inspiration for carving “Social Climber.”

Adcock was a native of Detroit and a graduate of Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Mich.

He formed the Los Angeles design firm, Designers Adcock & Stock, in 1955. There, he developed a client roster that ranged from ABC-TV, NBC-TV and Paramount Studios to California Pizza Kitchen and a who’s-who of Californians’ private homes and offices.

In the late 1980s Adcock met the love of his life, third wife Jeanie Renchard, a fellow sculptor, whose works are also included in the permanent Art on the Corner exhibit.

He is survived by daughters Jennifer Adcock and Elizabeth Giles, a brother Barry, and his 102-year-old Aunt Jane, the woman who helped raise him. They all live in northern California.

A memorial will take place next summer in Carbondale.

In lieu of flowers or candles, contributions can be sent to the Creativity Fund of his charitable organization, The Adcock Foundation, in care of Alpine Bank in Carbondale.